A phosphatase-like nanomaterial promotes autophagy and reprograms macrophages for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Macrophages are plastic and play a key role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. In cancer progression, macrophages also take part in all processes, from initiation to progression, to final tumor metastasis. Although energy deprivation and autophagy are widely used for cancer therapy, most of these strategies do not target macrophages, resulting in undesired effects and unsatisfactory outcomes for cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we developed a lanthanum nickel oxide (LNO) nanozyme with phosphatase-like activity for ATP hydrolysis. Meanwhile, the autophagy of macrophages induced by LNO promotes the polarization of macrophages from M2-like macrophages (M2) to M1-like macrophages (M1) and reduces tumor-associated macrophages in tumor-bearing mice, exhibiting the capability of killing tumor-associated macrophages and antitumor effects in vivo. Furthermore, pre-coating the surface of LNO with a myeloid cell membrane significantly enhanced antitumor immunity. Our findings demonstrate that phosphatase-like nanozyme LNO can specifically induce macrophage autophagy, which improves therapeutic efficacy and offers valuable strategies for cancer immunotherapy.